Seajewel

Photos pinned to cool plaster walls, discarded papers, a web of strings, a mirror, a doll, singed straw, scattered books, and unfurled magnetic tape.

This one reminds me strongly of the 2021 Lupercalia perfume Kimi Ga Dai Wa, which was a huge hit. For me, Kimi Ga Dai Wa had a sharp perfumey edge that just wasn’t for me, and that is present here as well, but softened. This is a simple, meditative, “dry” scent, but the sweet amber (also present in Kimi Ga Dai Wa and likely the note that is too sharp for me) is far more prominent than white sandalwood, which is a note I love. At first I was put off by the similarities to Kimi Ga Dai Wa, but as I retest, I find that there’s something I like about it, and now I want to go back and test Kimi Ga Dai Wa again. But for meditative sandalwood scents my go-to would still be last year’s Lilith, Life, the Sculptor, Moulds Unceasingly. ETA: I'll note that I actually love the deep drydown of this. It softens even more, loses the perfume-y edge, and seems to slightly sweeten. Lovely.

This one is so much fun as it smells different every time I've tried it. The first day I had awful allergies and could only smell popcorn, but the next two times were much better. One time I got mostly blue cotton candy, strawberries, bread, and puppies. Another time it led off with chocolate chip cookies, cotton candy, and a little popcorn. I enjoy it though it's more foodie than I generally prefer.

I love this scent. It's the ti leaf that makes Ti Leaf & Champaca Petals and Bugbear Doula so perfect for me, but deepened, sweetened by cardamom, bourbon vetiver, tonka, and sandalwood. The lavender is barely there. It all comes together so beautifully. ETA: I will add that the one downside is that it’s more interesting when wet and the dry down seems to lose some of the individual notes and become more generic sweetness.

I had high hopes for this one but it doesn’t quite work on me yet, though perhaps aging will bring out more aspects. It starts off with a note that I think is the sweet oud, and it has a hint of that overly sweet bathroom cleaner smell that oud can lead off with, the way You Get What Anybody Gets, You Get a Lifetime starts with (but much stronger in that case), but without the beautiful payoff of that scent. It then settles into largely a black leather scent with some sweetness. I wish I got more of the other notes.

No additional scent description.

No additional scent description.

It's an almost lemon-y vanilla with lavender and cardamom. It almost goes marshmallow on me, I think it will be a crowd pleaser!

This was a bit of a gamble. I'm not sure why I chose to blind bottle it instead of going the decant route, but I did, and the gamble paid off. I think it's primarily sugared opium magic water. There is lavender, but it's subdued and behaves. It just smells like sweet magic to me. My 6-year-old was entranced as well, and proclaimed "it almost smells like chocolate!" (That's not what I get, but I think it's a form of high praise from a child.)

Thirteen herbs to stave off the plague, coated with chocolate and delivered with a spoonful of sugar: butterburr, fennel, marigold, borage, rosemary, wood sorrel, clove pink, self-heal, yarrow, lemon balm, sweet cicely, rue, and masterwort.

Homemade blood clot-and-cherry ice cream plopping onto moonlit sand.

I ordered imps of all the new RPG scents, and this was my favorite. It's so beautiful, it has the tea, maybe some of the comforting amber fur, a hint of sweetness, and amazing lasting power. It has a lot of similarities with the Ti Leaf & Champaca Petals duet to my nose. I liked that one too but love this even more. Could not stop wearing it for days in a row.

It’s more of a tea scent, but I’m going to go around raving about Bugbear Doula everywhere I can because I just love it. Beth has really been nailing these scents that feel like beautiful smoke. The Grey Columns, Ti Leaf & Champaca Petals, Hierophantes all have a feel of smoke to me.. and this one is very much Ti Leaf & Champaca Petals PLUS.

There is so much going on here, but I love it. It’s a spicy smoky wood scent woven through with a very smooth red musk.

I was surprised to really like this one a lot, given that some of the reviews are so negative. It’s true that in the wet phase there is a hint of ashtray and acrid ness. But it’s also just a really amazing Vetiver. Manly, but not at all cologne-y. Almost like a velvety chocolate Vetiver in feel. Two Sheep & Two Goats is so sought after, and I think this scratches a very similar itch, though it likely depends on which notes pop on your particular skin/nose.

This one didn’t work for me either, though in theory I love all the notes, sandalwood, amber, and saffron. It was sharp and dry on me in a way that I find somewhat unpleasant, sadly. But I’m happy it’s such a big love for so many others.

This is a gorgeous lush scent. It reminds me a great deal of Red Lace, actually, which isn't that surprising given the notes. Definitely one of the stand-outs of the Lupers and it was an immediate bottle upgrade.

Believe the hype. This is gorgeous. It's more beautiful every time I wear it. The main downside is that it feels like it is so close to the skin that no one else can smell it. It feels like grey amber to me with just a hint of sweetness.

I love this. It's smoky, golden, subtle, sexy. It's like having a gentle plume of golden smoke drifting by.

I really like this one. It's a velvety, grassy, slightly bitter (but not in a bad way..) green tea scent that's way more alluring than I expected--one of those "lucky I got half decants of all the Shungas, because I would never have picked this one on my own." It's more atmospheric as opposed to perfume-y. Lasting power is low on me though.

Oddly enough, I love this. Orange blossom often smells medicinal to my nose and has ruined many blends, but here it's pretty subdued. To me, this is a sophisticated bubble gum scent, and that doesn't sound like something I would be drawn to, and yet here we are. The main downside is that it is very low throw on me, but I need some joy in my life and this scent brings it.

I ordered this because the wonderful Tom mentioned it recently in one of the BPAL testing videos as something he wears often. And it's really lovely. It doesn't have PINE!, it's more of a subtle, subtly sweet scent. I agree it is like a beautiful floral male scent but not really heavily masculine. It's much softer than I expected and although it's not really the type of scent I normally wear, I like having it and will definitely test out on my partner as well. It makes me super excited for the Black Amber & Sugar Cane duet that was just released, too. to add: I am not great at describing or distinguishing notes, but I would say that this leans much more black amber and oakmoss with some pine (but not sharp or pine-sol cleaner) at the start that gives way to the black amber in the drydown. So if you like black amber and oakmoss but weren't sure about the terebinth.. worth grabbing before it comes down in a few days!

I can’t describe what this smells like because I’m bad with notes, but is is a really beautiful scent. Maybe like a subtly sweet incense scent? I love the intent behind it and am really enjoying putting it on to reflect on the intent and enjoy the scent. I don’t really see it as something I wear as perfume but more to calm and ground myself. The only downside is that the beautiful opening wet stage goes away and leaves something far more faint behind. Getting at least one backup!

Patch lovers probably already knew this from the notes, but this is for you. It's thick, chewy, sweet patchouli. The cocoa doesn't go funky on me as it sometimes does. The cedar is not prominent. The tobacco is not caramelized. It's just one of those sweet patch blends that BPAL does so well. Not really in my wheelhouse, but it did make me sit up and pay attention.

I'm obsessed with the 2020 Liliths and have slowly been ordering more with every order I place. This was in my last batch. I love this. It's a subtly sweet scent with something almost minty in the mix. It's meditative. It almost reminds me of the dough note in Waiting that I love so much, but without being foody. I keep coming back to it again and again.